


2019 Hugo Awards Voter Packet: Archive of Our Own (AO3)

by OTW_Board



Category: Meta - Fandom
Genre: About AO3, Hugo Awards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-24 04:23:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18563851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Board/pseuds/OTW_Board
Summary: AO3 wasnominated for a Hugo Award this year for Best Related Work!  This is an amazing achievement and we’re overjoyed that Hugo voters have recognised the incredible collaborative work that is the Archive.Here’s some information about AO3, including its origins, some key features, and the team that makes it all possible. You can also check out theshiny PDF we submitted for the 2019 Hugo packet!





	2019 Hugo Awards Voter Packet: Archive of Our Own (AO3)

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into العربية available: [(AO3) حزمة المنتخِب لجوائز هوغو 2019: الأرشيف من جانبنا](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698185) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Hrvatski available: [Glasački paket Nagrade Hugo 2019.: Naš vlastiti arhiv (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698254) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Nederlands available: [2019 Hugo Awards Portfolio: Ons Eigen Archief (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698356) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Deutsch available: [Wahlpaket für die Hugo Awards 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698368) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Ελληνικά available: [Πακέτο Ψηφοφόρων Βραβείων Hugo 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698401) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Italiano available: [Pacchetti per i votanti ai Premi Hugo 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698413) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Bahasa Malaysia available: [Paket Pengundi Hugo Awards 2019: Arkib Milik Kita (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698434) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [Pacote de informação para votar nos Prêmios Hugo 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698446) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into فارسی available: [(AO3) پکیج رای دهندگان مخصوص جایزه هوگو 2019: آرشیوی برای خودمان](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698458) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Español available: [Paquete electoral para los Premios Hugo 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698476) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Slovenščina available: [Volilni paket nagrad Hugo 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698515) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Română available: [Ghidul Alegătorilor Premiilor Hugo 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698533) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Português europeu available: [Pacote de Eleitores dos Prémios Hugo 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3) (O Nosso Próprio Arquivo)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698551) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Suomi available: [Hugo-palkintojen 2019 äänestäjän paketti: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18734281) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Bahasa Indonesia available: [Paket Kandidat Penghargaan Hugo 2019: Arsip Milik Kita (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18734302) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Polski available: [Pakiet dla głosujących na Nagrody Hugo 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18734317) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into 한국어 available: [2019년 휴고상 투표자 자료집: 우리만의 아카이브 (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18734323) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Slovenčina available: [Balíček pre voličov cien Hugo 2019: Náš vlastný archív (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18734326) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Français available: [Guide des Finalistes pour les Votant-e-s du Prix Hugo 2019 : Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18734881) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Norsk available: [Stemmepakke for Hugo Awards 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18771058) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into বাংলা available: [২০১৯ হুগো পুরস্কার ভোটার খাম: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18771112) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Русский available: [Пакет избирателя на премию "Хьюго" 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18771361) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Svenska available: [Röstarpaket för Hugo-priset 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18771412) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into 中文 available: [2019年雨果奖投票者资料集：AO3作品库（AO3）](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780709) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into српски available: [Гласачки пакет за наградe Хуго 2019. године: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780727) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into मराठी available: [२०१९ ह्युगो अवॉर्ड व्होटर पॅकेट: आमचा स्वतःचा संग्रह (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780871) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)
  * Translation into Українська available: [Пакет для голосування Премії Г'юго 2019: Archive of Our Own (AO3)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18809968) by [OTW_Translation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTW_Translation/pseuds/OTW_Translation)



[ ](https://media.archiveofourown.org/ao3/hugo2019/archive_stats.png)

### About the Archive of Our Own

The Archive of Our Own is a fan-created, fan-run, nonprofit, noncommercial archive for transformative fanworks, like fanfiction, fanart, fan videos, and podfic. Our [open-source code](https://github.com/otwcode/otwarchive) was built from the ground up by fans for fans, and it runs on servers owned by our parent nonprofit, the [Organization for Transformative Works](https://www.transformativeworks.org/).

Our users are fans of every sort—teenagers and grandparents, first-time writers and professional authors—from all around the world, creating fanworks for fandoms including [Hugo Award Winners](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Wayward%20Children%20Series%20-%20Seanan%20McGuire/works), [Historical RPF](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Historical%20RPF/works), [podcasts](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Welcome%20to%20Night%20Vale/works), [Pokémon](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Pocket%20Monsters%20%7C%20Pokemon%20-%20All%20Media%20Types/works), and so much more. While the majority of AO3 users use English as their fandom language of choice, we invite them to post and interact in whatever language they prefer.

[ ](https://media.archiveofourown.org/ao3/hugo2019/languages.png)

We take pride in providing a platform where creators of all sorts can post their works without ads, and without fear of their works disappearing. We build the Archive and own the servers—it's where most of our [budget](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/12422) goes, in fact—but that's not all we and our sister projects do. We [rescue and host at-risk fannish content](http://opendoors.transformativeworks.org/). We provide [legal advocacy](http://www.transformativeworks.org/legal/) to protect fannish rights to create, remix, and transform. And whether you're working on a 100,000-word epic or have a quick comic you've sketched, we welcome you to post and share your work with the fannish community. Over 1.9 million fans visit us every day, and we're always happy to have more.

  


### Our Team

The [Organization for Transformative Works](https://www.transformativeworks.org/) is staffed by over 750 volunteers, almost all of whom do work that impacts AO3 in a meaningful way. We are programmers, sysadmins, [tag wranglers](https://archiveofourown.org/faq/tags#wrangling), support providers, policy enforcers, translators, [archive rescuers](http://opendoors.transformativeworks.org/), lawyers, and documentation specialists. We take pride in our work, and we do all of it for free.

We occasionally work with outside contractors as well, particularly in order to bring major changes to the Archive of Our Own as quickly and effectively as possible. This is made possible by [generous donations from our users and supporters](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/12674).

[](https://media.archiveofourown.org/ao3/hugo2019/fundraising_v4.png)

In all, we are a crowd-funded, crowd-sourced effort, and we are proud of every person who helps make our work possible.

  


### Our Origins

Fandom is well known for promoting its [gift economy](https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2014.0518). Historically, fanworks were freely shared: tapes, DVDs, books, and zines would be shipped for free or at cost, and fans would pay it forward when other fans were in need. The rise of the internet in the 90s brought new and exciting opportunities: for the first time, fans from all over the world could easily connect with one another, discuss their fannish loves, and share their fanworks instantly. However, as the internet grew more widespread, it also became more commercial. Websites, archives, and social networking sites were all fannish spaces that ultimately made money for someone other than fannish content providers. Simultaneously, fans were becoming an increasingly visible, marketable demographic, courted by the media through web series, extra material, games, and social media.

This all came to a head in May 2007, with the launch of [FanLib](https://fanlore.org/wiki/FanLib), representing the first large-scale attempt to commercialize fanfiction, and [Strikethrough](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Strikethrough_and_Boldthrough) on [LiveJournal](https://fanlore.org/wiki/LiveJournal), during which over 500 accounts deemed pornographic were deleted, including rape survivor blogs and fannish communities. Many fans were affected by these deletions; they lost stories, comments, and discussions, as well as the ability to communicate with other fans. Fandom suddenly realized that its communities were dependent on platforms that profited from fannish use and content but didn't prioritize or even care about fannish needs. What's more, fandom realized that the long-successful strategy of flying under the radar of media companies was no longer feasible.

Into this atmosphere, astolat wrote the post that would lead to the OTW and AO3. Entitled [An Archive of One's Own](https://fanlore.org/wiki/An_Archive_Of_One%27s_Own_\(post_by_astolat\)), the post echoed Virginia Woolf’s feminist manifesto, _A Room of One’s Own_ , in which Woolf discusses the necessity for a female writer to have her own money and a room of her own. astolat argued something closely related for fan writers (and other fannish creators):

> We need a central archive of our own, something like animemusicvideos.org. Something that would NOT hide from google or any public mention, and would clearly state our case for the legality of our hobby up front, while not trying to make a profit off other people's IP and instead only making it easier for us to celebrate it, together, and create a welcoming space for new fans that has a sense of our history and our community behind it.

Within days, the post had hundreds of comments. Some were people excited and willing to help get the project off the ground. Others began creating wish lists of what they wanted this archive to look like, many of which remain the main tenets of our work:

  * **Noncommercial and Nonprofit**
    * The Archive would be run by a nonprofit, meaning no advertisements and reduced risk of the site’s disappearing. They would, to echo [Speranza's battle cry](https://fanlore.org/wiki/I_Want_Us_to_Own_the_Goddamned_Servers), “own the goddamned servers."
  * **Multifannish and Inclusive**
    * In order for AO3 to successfully become a fandom repository, it would need to be all-encompassing and all-inclusive. Works of all ratings and of any content would be allowed, with warnings and tags to help readers seek out or avoid sensitive matters according to their tastes.
  * **Creator Control**
    * Many archives made it difficult for creators to remove their works. Many online platforms didn’t prevent search engines from tracking content. AO3 would give creators the ability to upload and easily delete their works, to lock their content to Archive users only, and to prevent search engines from listing their works. It also would allow creators to avoid anonymous comments and delete comments as necessary.
  * **Key Features**
    * Many of the requested features have become integral to the Archive, including its tag and search functions, and the ability to download, run fan exchanges, and create recommendation lists. We're still working on others, such as the ability to host other forms of media directly on our servers.



  


### Some Key Features

#### Comments and Kudos

[ ](https://media.archiveofourown.org/ao3/hugo2019/work_stats.png)

Most fan archives allow comments, which let users communicate with creators and leave words of encouragement, appreciation, or criticism. We've paired this with kudos, which works similar to a "like" and allows users to provide quick appreciation to works they've enjoyed. Frequent AO3 users are used to seeing, "You have already left kudos here. :)"

#### Collections and Challenges

Collections allow users to collect works or bookmarks based on a specific theme or purpose, whether it's a favorite pairing or works based on Doctor Who Christmas episodes. The Archive also supports two types of challenges: Gift Exchanges and Prompt Memes. One of fandom's biggest gift exchanges, [Yuletide](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide), is hosted annually on our servers, and fans of all sorts run [other challenges](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/list_challenges) throughout the year.

#### Open Doors

[ ](https://media.archiveofourown.org/ao3/hugo2019/open_doors.png)

About 2% of AO3's works are imported onto the Archive by our sister project, [Open Doors](http://opendoors.transformativeworks.org/), which aims to preserve at-risk fannish content. These works were originally hosted on [online archives that were in danger of closing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Open_Doors#Archives_Imported_with_the_Assistance_of_Open_Doors) and losing their content, and are now hosted in special collections on the Archive.

#### Downloads

All works are available for download in [five formats](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/12212), perfect for reading on the go or when AO3 has announced downtime for planned maintenance.

#### Tags

[Tags](https://archiveofourown.org/tags) are a vital part of the AO3 experience; they're what allow users to find the works they're looking for, no matter the pairing, rating, or theme. Users are able to tag in whatever format is most useful or natural to them, and our team of over 350 tag wranglers link these tags together into easily searchable concepts. [William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/William%20Laurence*s*Tenzing%20Tharkay/works), for example, will also find works tagged with Laurence/Tharkay, Tenzing Tharkay/William Laurence, or Will Laurence/Tharkay. Related concepts are also linked: [Space Opera](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Space%20Opera/works) and [Space Battles](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Space%20Battles/works) are both found under the metatag [Outer Space](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Outer%20Space/works), along with other related terms like [Astronauts](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Astronauts/works), [Spaceships](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Spaceships/works), and even [Space Whales](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Space%20Whales/works).

  


### New and Noteworthy

AO3 is [constantly growing and changing](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts?tag=1). Here are some of 2018's highlights:

  * The Archive grew by almost 4,000 new fandoms, 410,000 registered users, and just short of 900,000 works (not to mention millions of views, comments, and kudos). 
    * We surpassed both [30,000 fandoms](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/11555) and [4 million fanworks](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/10833)!
  * Open Doors completed [11 archive imports](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/12137).
  * The Archive's search function went through a [major upgrade](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/10575), allowing for easier and faster searching for works, tags, bookmarks, and people. 
    * Thanks to the new filtering options, users can easily create specific searches, including [all Sherlock Holmes works posted in 2018 that are exactly 221 words long](https://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=221&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=221&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=2018-01-01&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=2018-12-31&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&commit=Sort+and+Filter&tag_id=Sherlock+Holmes+*a*+Related+Fandoms) and [Lord of The Rings/Game of Thrones crossovers that don't include either Frodo Baggins or Arya Stark](https://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&include_work_search%5Bfandom_ids%5D%5B%5D=145124&include_work_search%5Bfandom_ids%5D%5B%5D=242462&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&exclude_work_search%5Bcharacter_ids%5D%5B%5D=917&exclude_work_search%5Bcharacter_ids%5D%5B%5D=38222&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&commit=Sort+and+Filter&tag_id=A+Song+of+Ice+and+Fire+-+George+R*d*+R*d*+Martin).
    * We also provided an updated list of [hidden search operators](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/10851) for anyone hoping to improve searches even further.
  * [AO3 began supporting the UTF8MB4 character set](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/11871) in all text fields. Not only does this allow better support for several non-Latin alphabets, but it also gives us access to emoji! 🎉💖📚👾💩
  * We also [improved word counts for Chinese, Japanese, and Thai works](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/11702).
  * We updated our login system for advanced security and maintainability.
  * We updated our [Terms of Service](https://archiveofourown.org/tos) to meet the European Union's [General Data Protection Regulation requirements](https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/10518).




End file.
